Harmful Coliform and E-coli Bacteria Treatment and Filtration in Well Water Systems.

Coliform and E-coli are harmful bacteria sometimes found in well water. If your well has tested positive for either of these harmful bacterium in ANY amount, we strongly recommend that you treat it. Whether you have a private well, a community well or a commercial well we can help with effective well water treatment systems and solutions.

Causes of E. Coli Infection

People and animals normally have some E. coli in their intestines, but some strains cause infection. The bacteria that cause infection can enter into your body in a number of ways.

Whether food is prepared at home, in a restaurant, or in a grocery store, unsafe handling and preparation can cause contamination. Common causes of food poisoning include:

• failing to wash hands completely before preparing or eating food
• using utensils, cutting boards, or serving dishes that aren’t clean, causing cross-contamination
• consuming dairy products or food containing mayonnaise that have been left out too long
• consuming foods that haven’t been stored at the right temperature
• consuming foods that aren’t cooked to the right temperature or duration of time, especially meats and poultry
• consuming raw seafood products
• drinking unpasteurized milk
• consuming raw produce that hasn’t been properly washed
• Food Processing
• During the slaughtering process, poultry and meat products can acquire bacteria from the animals’ intestines.

Poor sanitation can cause water to contain bacteria from human or animal waste. You can get the infection from drinking contaminated water or from swimming in it.

E. coli can spread when an infected person doesn’t wash their hands after having a bowel movement. The bacteria are then spread when that person touches someone or something else, like food. Nursing homes, schools, and child care facilities are particularly vulnerable to person-to-person spreading.

People who work with animals, especially cows, goats, and sheep, are at increased risk for infection. Anyone who touches animals or who works in an environment with animals should wash their hands regularly and thoroughly.

Symptoms of Intestinal Infection Due to E. Coli

Symptoms of intestinal infection generally begin between one and five days after you have been infected with E. coli. Symptoms can include:

• abdominal cramping
• sudden, severe watery diarrhea that may change to bloody stools
• gas
• loss of appetite/nausea
• vomiting (uncommon)
• fatigue
• fever

Symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to more than a week.

Symptoms of a severe E. coli infection may include:

• bloody urine
• decreased urine output
• pale skin
• bruising
• dehydration

There are a several different ways to treat and filter your well water for these harmful bacterium.

WHOLE HOUSE Well Water Treatment Solutions:

Chemical dosing system - This would include a chemical feeder and at least one retention tank to kill coliform and e-coli bacteria.This is the most recommended and effective technology used allover

UV Filtration - Sterilization light to kill harmful bacteria. Keep in mind that many people cannot use this method without first filtering and softening the water due to "Shielding" concerns. Beware of companies who will let you add this UV technology on hard water or on water with iron or any other type of sediment issues such as sand, manganese, clay, dirt, turbidity etc. Feel free to contact one of our expert techs with your test results so we can help you determine if a UV light alone will be a correct application.

UV is an effective way to treat coliform and e-coli. Normally you may have to treat your water for other impurities such as hardness (calcium, magnesium), iron, sediment and manganese prior to UV treatment. If you have impurities other than coliform and e-coli, these impurities can cause "shielding" of the bacteria. Shielding is where the bacteria can hide behind other particles and be unaffected by the UV treatment. We would recommend that if you have greater than 0.2 ppm of iron or greater than 5 GPG of hardness that you treat your water before the UV lamp. You will need to determine your flow rate to determine which UV system is right for your specific application. Beware of companies who claim the UV alone can kill bacteria with no pre-treatment at all or who don't require specific testing for hardness, iron, manganese, dirt, turbidity, clay and other forms of turbidity or sediment related type contaminants.